Doing my teaching placement abroad was an absolute highlight of my bachelor’s degree. So much so that this prac teaching experience is something that impacted who I am as a teacher. I learnt so much from the process. This international teaching prac placement taught me so much about who I am as a teacher. It led me to the Master’s degree that I’m currently studying in International Education and Bilingualism. Prac teaching abroad is something that I highly recommend. If you’re reading this, know that it’s worth it. If you want help making it happen, sign up to get my experience teaching abroad and resources to help you get there.
Doing an international teaching placement as a part of my study abroad year for my Bachelor’s degree in Education was where I first experienced the idea of teaching abroad. It was where I fell in love with international teaching. About six months into my study abroad, I got to do a placement at a small country school in North Sweden just outside of Umeå, Västerbotten.
While I speak conversational Swedish now, I definitely didn’t at the time. During this placement, I mostly hung out (what I call being with a class) with a year 6 class. I also got to spend quite a bit of time with Första Klass (First class, which isn’t to be confused with 1st grade – it’s like Reception in Australia or the U.K). I loved getting to teach English, Maths and Art to the Year 6 students and getting to play and observe in Första Klass. And amazingly, I also got the opportunity to interview heaps of different teachers, leaders, and school counsellors.
Of all my placements (including the rural placement), doing a teaching placement abroad is the one that impacted me the most.
It wasn’t the one where I learnt to be a teacher the most. Or where I observed terrific lessons that I tucked away for future reference the most. Nor where I found my feet as a teacher. But it was the one where I discovered my passion for teaching. It was where I found the kind of teacher I wanted to be. It was where I learnt one of my most crucial teaching take ways.
Want to know what it is? Keep reading for reason 1. I think it is so important I put it first.
So here they are. The 5 amazing reasons you should do a teaching placement abroad next year.
1. A teaching placement abroad gives you a different perspective.
Every culture is different, and it makes sense that educational systems are too. I guess I just didn’t realise how much at university 🤷🏼♀️ . We spend some much time learning research-based practices to inform our pedagogy, that I guess I just didn’t realise that what is upheld as ‘research based’ isn’t so everywhere. With different cultural implications, schools in Sweden felt so different. So many things I see now coming in the mainstream, I saw in my small country Swedish school 5 years ago. For example, a focus on relationships. It was so foundational in the school down to students being on a first-name basis with teachers or no such thing as detentions for primary students.
I remember sitting at university in Sweden, being told that Gardeners theory of Multiple Intelligence wasn’t backed by empirical evidence and being surprised as it was highlighted as positive research in Australia. This was the first moment I realised that what my university or education systems tell me is the high standard of research doesn’t necessarily make it so. But here’s the thing and my biggest takeaway:
There are multiple ways to do the same thing.
Now, of course, there is research that informs our practice that is universally acknowledged, such as synthetic phonics. But synthetic phonics isn’t for every language. And teaching English as a Second Language using another approach because it links with their native language isn’t bad. There are multiple ways to do the same thing, especially for the things outside of content learning. For example, there are multiple ways to teach emotional intelligence, behaviour management and build relationships with your class. Sometimes things suit you, and other times they don’t, and that is okay because there are multiple ways to do the same thing.
Teaching abroad, especially doing a teaching placement abroad, teaches us to consider our perspective and develop research literacy. At the end of the day, our students aren’t robots. One thing doesn’t work for everyone, and knowing that there a multiple ways to do the same thing can change your mindset as a teacher.
2. Prac teaching overseas can expose you to different national or international curriculums.
Curriculum is something that heavily influences what we teach when we teach it, and perhaps how we teach it. One of the enormous benefits of teaching abroad as a prac teacher is getting to experience another curriculum. Without really thinking about it, you’ll compare and contrast it to your curriculum. It will give you a greater understanding of your own curriculum, but it will also highlight the flaws you may not have noticed. By teaching another curriculum that you feel addresses something better, you get to tuck that knowledge away with you to help supplement your teaching when you teach those aspects of your curriculum.
On the flip side, being a prac teacher internationally using a different curriculum also highlight the pros in your own curriculum. It makes you appreciate what you have. By utilising another curriculum and by trying to understand it, you will look through the lens of the curriculum you already understand. In doing so, you’ll gain a better understanding behind why things are taught the way that they are, and perhaps, how they can grow and change. This is particularly relevant for a skills-based curriculum rather than a content-based curriculum, or perhaps a curriculum that tries to incorporate both.
3. A teaching placement abroad exposes you to a different culture.
One of the biggest things I realised is that schools exist as a means to create desired citizens. And depending on the country, that looks different. They are developed through cultural values. I remember my mentor teacher saying the kids were really out of sorts today because it was my first day, and I did a double-take. To me, the students were so quiet and working independently it was crazy that this would be them ‘out of sorts’. A quiet class in Sweden is a class full of busy noise in Australia. Now, as someone who has only taught in one country, we have multiple research-based reasons for why, for example, busy noise is beneficial to kids. But this might not be internationally transferable to other cultures.
People are influenced by the culture that they are brought up in that what the research says works for Aussie kids, might not work with Swedish kids. Currently, I am in Spain, and on my first day observing, I felt like the kids were wild. They were up out of their seats, taking over the teacher (only a little) and running about and jumping on one another. When we moved around the school, the kids kind of just made their own way, playing as they went. It was a shock! Especially coming from the UK, where walking in line is borderline a signpost of the British. But we made it between a and b safely and in a timely manner, and no one was disturbed. It works because that’s how it’s done there.
When it comes to the small stuff, there are multiple ways to do the same thing (see why I put it as number 1).
4. An international prac placement lets you practice, practice, practice.
You can never get enough practice right! Doing a teaching placement abroad is an excellent opportunity to practice semi risk-free. I found that I could practice whatever I wanted (within reason) in the small country town Swedish school because there was a lot less guidance on what I had to do. It was a great opportunity. I didn’t have to do a certain amount of hours, make sure I did a range of all the subjects, or teach certain content. I got free range to teach what I felt I needed practice on. For example, to teach something that an Australian school might not have been able to do because there is only so much you can do as a placement student. But when I was abroad, all I had to do was ask. I felt like the pressure was off, and I could just be.
This is why I highly recommend doing an international placement as your 2nd or 3rd placement. Not your first, and not your last.
It also gives you a chance to practice in an environment that you might not have to opportunity to back home. I got lots of practice teaching English as a second language to a whole class of 5th and 6th graders. This is just not something that I would have had the opportunity to do in mainstream Sydney. But you know what I had in nearly all my placement classes, at least one student who was EAL/D (ESL). Doing an international prac placement gave me the opportunity to practice and refine this skill in a unique environment.
5. Doing your teaching placement overseas helps you develop adaptability.
There is definitely a learning curve when teaching abroad or doing your teaching placement overseas. It’s not easy to pick up a new curriculum and teach from it. It’s not easy to teach in a whole new culture as your coming to terms with it, or teach to students who struggle to understand your accent. But you learn, and quickly in a risk-free environment.
But you know what, it’s also not easy to teach your first week or your first year. It’s not easy having to suddenly plan an extra lesson for tomorrow, or finish early today because x, y or z is on and you need to change your timetable. It’s not easy when suddenly you have a new EAL/D (ESL) student join your class mid-year. Teaching is hard, and being adaptable is one of the greatest skills you can develop to prepare for the job.
Making the most of my placements by trying to find different and unique experiences did this for me. Not only did I do a teaching placement abroad in Sweden, but I also spent some time in a school in Indonesia, a private Islamic school in Sydney, a rural country school in Far Western NSW, the largest inner-city Catholic School in Sydney and a small coastal school just South of Sydney. This broad range of placement schools, as well as different grades, set the groundwork for the teacher I am today: someone who can confidently teach any grade, and any curriculum (with time and support). Being adaptable is always in my top strengths as a teacher, and it can be for you.
If you’re reading this in November/December 2021 and want the day to day of my placement in Spain, then follow me on Instagram.
Currently, as I write this from my dorm room in Spain, doing a teaching placement abroad for my Master’s in International Education and Bilingualism, I cannot express just how much this is true. All of these points I am gleaning from this experience: the good and the bad. From everything I’ve seen, seeing a school and its cultural influences in a new country still surprises me. Yet, there is so much to glean from the experience. I am definitely an observational learner and love having the opportunity to see a different part of research-based pedagogy put into place. Teaching is a journey, and I’m still learning. And when you teach abroad or do a teaching placement internationally, there is a lot to learn and gain.
Chances are if you’re here, you are also interested in Teaching Abroad when you graduate. Sign up to stay connected and get my FREE Teach Abroad Q&A. It’s never too early to start dreaming and planning. I did, after all, leave to teach abroad in London less than two weeks after my last exam!
Want to know more about my life as an international primary teacher in London? Check out these posts:
5 Honest Reasons I Became an International Primary Teacher Abroad
4 Big Lessons I Actually Learnt Teaching Abroad in London
Are you about to finish your degree? Check out this post on 10 of the best reasons you should teach abroad in London this year!
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